As you get closer to the birth of your new baby, you may start to wonder whether you should stick with a name from one of those baby books, or whether you should go off the beaten path and name your child after, let’s say, your favorite character.

Some people have done this successfully, such as Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller who (with his wife’s blessing, we assume) decided to name his daughter Moxie Crimefighter. Who can’t say that a crimefighter isn’t a favorite character somewhere along the way?

But let’s say that you have more personal favorites from the world of books, games, food products, or other marketing. Why wouldn’t you want to name your child after one of those characters… if ONLY YOU KNEW WHAT THEIR REAL NAMES WERE?!?!?

A few months back, Web Watch told you about how Hemingway chose to write: be as concise as possible, don’t say in six words what you say in five.

Storytelling – whether it be written or verbal, for fun or for profit – is not something that comes naturally to everyone. It’s another reason why public speaking can be so difficult, as well. People naturally like to wander in their conversations, and becoming laser-focused on what you’re trying to say is a skillset that not everyone has.

Why take 20 minutes to tell a story when you can say the same thing in five minutes? You can always expand on what you’re talking about, especially as part of a continued conversation. But don’t give everything away on your own – your audience will become quickly bored.

It’s a completely legitimate question, especially as Pixar continues its stellar run of high-quality animated entertainment.

There’s a reason why TOY STORY 3 is nominated for Best Picture this year. There’s a reason why UP was nominated for Best Picture last year. There’s a reason why WALL-E‘s lack of a Best Picture nomination forced the Academy to increase the number of eligible Best Picture nominees from five to 10, thus ensuring that there would be 5 more chances for an animated film to lose any chance of ever winning a Best Picture award of its own outside of the animation categories. Continue reading WHY ARE ANIMATED FILMS NEVER NOMINATED FOR BEST DIRECTOR OR ACTING AWARDS?→

Hopefully, you’ve shown it to your parents. If you haven’t, and have had difficulty explaining to your parents why they should want to watch an animated film, perhaps you should show them this PREMAKE, a movie trailer using old video clips done in a style as if the new film had been made decades ago.

Perhaps it’s a bit hard to explain. It’s what the trailers would look like if these films had been made in the 1950’s. Does that make sense?

Rated G for being appropriate for all ages, and a must-see for everyone. Remember, a “G” rating or that the film is animated does not mean that the film is intended to be seen only by children.Rating: A+

TOY STORY 3 is the latest film from Disney-Pixar, and completes the Toy Story trilogy that had releases in 1995 and 1999. While the first two Toy Story films were made four years apart, Web Watch will estimate that only 2 years of movie-time passed for the characters in the film. On the other hand, Toy Story 3 was released 11 years after Toy Story 2, and the filmmakers decided to run the movie clock those eleven years as well – which means that it’s time for the toy’s owner, Andy, to head off to college.

Aspiring animators and cartoon artists are constantly trying to size their characters up against each other, to ensure that perspectives and size relationships are maintained throughout the production.

It’s probably why Keifer Sutherland is always filmed from low camera angles on “24”, in order to maintain size ratios with his co-stars and give Keifer the “larger than life” persona he needs to portray Jack Bauer. But we digress.